Railway rail and rail-joint



May 19, 1931. s, THOMSON 1,806,426

Filed April 18, 1930 2 sh ets-Sheet 1 lnuenf'ox",

y 9, 1931. s. G. THOMSON 1,806,426

//7 (J en for wwww Patented May 19, 1931 PATNT OFFICE SAMUEL G. THOMSON,OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK RAILYVAY RAIL AND RAIL-JOINT Application filedApril 18,

This invention relates to a novel dist-ribution of metal in the rail andsplice bars, in order to improve the clamping action of the top of thebar against the rail; also, to provide a rail and splice bar of betterdesign and stability in service, and such as will afford an enlargedbearing area under the rail head.

This specification may be abbreviated by not repeatin herein theadvantages afforded in rail manufacture as outlined in my formerapplication for patent, dated April 9th, 1930, Serial No. 442,948, whichadvantages apply withequal force to this invention.

In order to accomplish the above purposes,

my improvement comprises an important change in the rail section,viz.-the use of a bearing face under the rail head which is concaveadjacent to the outer under corner of the rail head. It will be notedfrom the various figures of the drawings, that this outermost concavebearing may be joined to faces having different inclination and varyingcurvature and to flat faces in forming the entire under surface of therail head. The

enlarged bearing thus obtained is a novel divergence from the presentcommon use of equivalent angles of inclination for the flat upper andlower splice bar bearings. In this variously shaped and inclined upperbearing 0 comprising the basic feature of my invention, the head of thebar is afforded a well anchored bearing which is flexibly adjustable tothe under surface of the rail head. This bearing is adaptable to varyingconditions of wear and size of bars and rails; it relieves the rigidityof former construction, and affords a yielding flexibility against thepull of the bolts.

In some designs of rail, a large radius is used to form the under cornerof the rail head; or the side face of the head ay be out under to giveaoslightly widened head toward the top. The result is, that theuppermost and outermost available bearing for the bar under the railhead lies considerably inside of a vertical plane at the outermostportion of the rail head. The outer edge of this bearing might thus becut back even to the midpoint between vertical planes at the outermostportion of the rail head and at the sin 1930. Serial No. 445,264.

innermost face of the rail web without departing from the spirit of myinvention; but the more preferable forms are obtained by using thesharpest practicable corner under the rail head in order to carry theuppermost bearing of the bar as far outward as possible.

It is Well known in railway track maintenance, that the efficiency of arail-j oint is very greatly dependent upon the tightness of the jointbolts, and it is one of the important objects of this invention toimprove these conditions.

In my former Patent No. 1,005,583, dated October 10, 1911, a very rigidbolting structure was set up, in which the head of the bar takes abearing solidly and rigidly against an almost vertical face of the railweb, so that the full pull of the bolts is almost entirely against thisface, very little resistance being offered parallel to the bolt-pullforces by the fiat fishing angle under the rail head. It is one of theobjects of my invention to relieve this rigid set-11p by transferringthe reaction to the bolt-pull at the coacting faces of the rail and barfrom an upright faceto a curved inclined face. For this purpose I usethis concave bearing for the bar, which comprises the outermost portionof the under surface of the rail head. In most of the forms illustratedin the drawings, the use of this concave face eliminates entirely theflat bearing face under the rail head, and substitutes in its place acontinuously concave and curved surface under the rail head from itsunder corner to the rail web. Some of the forms, however, show anintermediate flat face as part of a generally slanting concave undersurface; but the outermost portion of this under surface is alwayscurved in accordance with the basic idea of this invention. It will benoted that the variations in the curvature and in the inclination ofthis outer under bearing face will give any desired degree of yieldingelasticity against the pull of the bolts, this elasticity also beingregulated by the distance that the bearing of the bar is carried downaround the curve. The outer curved face is particularly effective inincreasing the curved Width of that portion of the under surface of therail head which controls the action and the movement of the head of thebar. The extra curved width thus obtained makes it unnecessary to extendthe bearing of the head of the bar down to the upright portion of thecurve adjacent to the rail web. It will be noted also, that it is thisconcave bearing face at the outer under corner of the rail head, thatholds the head of the bar well anchored under the rail head, and doesnot allow it to slip outwardly, as the bar is forced upwardly andinwardly by the pull of the bolts.

The precise nature of my invention and the different action of the barsagainst the rail, will best be understood by referring to theaccompanying drawings, inwhich I show a number of the more desirableforms. It is presumed, however, that the invention is susceptible ofvarious other modifications without departing from its spirit and thescope as defined in the appended claims.

Figures 1 to 8 inclusive, are sectional elevations ofa rail and a splicebar, illustrating some of the. forms which my invention may take, thenature and the different characteristics of which may best becomprehended by a description in detail of each figure, to follow.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts thruout thevarious figures of the drawings:

The letter H, whenever seen, designates the rail head; W, the rail web;F, the rail foot; B, the splice bar; C, the concave bearing for thesplice bar at the outer under corner of the rail head; D, the lowerbearing of the splice bar on the rail; line ff, the centre line of theclamping bolts; line vc, designates a vertical plane at the outer edgeof the concave ,bearing face C.

Figure 1 shows the concave bearing face C extended downwardly andinwardly with uniform curvature to form the under surface of the railhead. The radial centre of this curved surface lies adjacent to avertical plane at the side face of the rail head, thus causing the upperportion of the curve to approach a horizontal tangent plane, and thusform a laterally overhanging projection C at the under corner of therail head. The head of the bar fits this entire curved under surface,and is carried down to contact with the upright face of the rail web. Ifdesirable, the head of the bar may be cut away to leave a clearancebetween it and the rail web adjacent to the lower portion of the concaveunder face of the rail head at 1. The base of the bar makes the usual"fishing contact D with the rail base, the bearing surface lying at theusual 13 degree angle with the horizontal.

In Figure 2, the concave face C joins a face 2 having a larger radius,and this face in turn joins a face 3 with a still larger radius, thusconnecting the under surface of the rail head to the rail web. Concaveface G extends sharply inward from the under corner of the rail head, sothat a considerable portion of the upper bearing face for the barapproaches a horizontal position. This gives a most effective anchoragefor the head of the bar in preventing it from rotating and creeping outat the top as the bar is pulled in at the bottom by the bolts; and atthe same time, the bearing of the head of the bar at 3 against adownwardly-and inwardly slanting curved face introduces a yieldingelasicity into the clamping action of the bolts which is not presentwhen the bar bears directly and rigidly against the substantiallyvertical face of the rail web, as in the construction of my formerPatent No. 1,005,583. The bottom of the bar contacts only with the outerportion D of the top face of the rail foot, which illustrates anotherfeature of my invention. This outer bearing D in combination with theupper concave bearing face C is effective in holding the bar in itsoriginal upright operative position and with the upper and lowerhearings in their complete original contact.

Another novel featurewill be noted as mentioned above in connection withthis Fig. 2, and in Fig. 1, viz.the position of the upper and outermostportion of the concave under bearing face C in its approach to ahorizontal tangent plane, so that a considerable portion of the undersurface of the rail head adjacent to its under corner lies in asubstantially hori zontal position. This feature is not essential to oris it claimed specifically in this application, but is made the basicfeature and the subject matter for a separate application for Patent,No. 454,575, May 22, 1930, which is related and supplementary to thisapplication. In this separate application, the substantially horizontalposition of this outer portion of the. under'surface of the rail head isclaimed broadly, whether this said outer portion is concave or flat;whereas in this application, this outermost under face is basicallyconcave, but may lie at any practicable inclination.

Figure 3'shows the curvature of bearing C extended inwardly at 4 to anabruptjuncture 5 with the rail web, thus making the general inclinationof this upper bearing not greatly different from the usual 13degree-fiatfishing angle; but its curvature effects a much differentaction against the pull'of the bolts. The

of said bearing. A base bearing 7 is provided 13 under the rail, whichis an additional factor in regulating and controlling the action andposition of the bar against the rail.

Figure 4 shows a rail having the under surface of its head comprisingconcave face C and flat face 8. The splice bar contacts with this entireface and abuts a vertical face of the rail web. The inclination of thisirregular bearing face is similar to the uniformly curved face shown inFig. 3. In this Fig. 4, the lower portion of the bar and its bearing Don the rail foot is of usual design.

In Figure 5, the under surface of the rail head starting at C, curvesuniformly downwardly and inwardly to its juncture 9 with the rail web,the head bearing of the barstopping considerably short at 10. With thesteep slope of this under bearing at C, and with no portion of itscurvature forming an overhanging rail head, there would be a tendencyfor the bar to slip upwardly around this slanting curve and to be drawninwardly along the rail foot, were it not for the bearing of the bar atD, which holds its base from being drawn inwardly. This blocking of theinward movement at D would force a stretching of the bolts at 11, inorder to allow the bar to slip upwardly in its upper bearing to aposition shown in dotted lines. It will be noted that the effect of thisouter bearing on top of the rail foot, is to tilt a line 1212 throughthe contacts of the bar with the rail, into an inclined position, sothat the eflective or resultant pull of the bolts is along line f'f'.The direction of this resultant pull is naturally about at right anglesto the tilted line 1212, and approximately bisecting the angle 13 madeby the top face of the rail foot and a plane 1414 representing thedirection of the tendency of the head of the bar to be drawn inwardly bythe clamping action of the bolts.

The tendency of a bar to rotate or to move away from its normal positionunder the vibration and wear of service, must be equalized at the topand at the bottom of the bar inorder to obtain the best efficiency. Thisis very closely approximated by my invention as indicated in the abovedescription of Fig. 5. It thus will be seen, that the advantages of anenlarged downwardly and inwardly slanting face under the rail head, maybe effected by properly shaping and locating the bearings of the baragainst the rail. Heretofore, it has been the practice to usesubstantially equivalent angles of inclination for the bearing facesunder the head of the rail and on top of its foot,-about 13 degrees withthe horizontal-with the view of holding the splice bars in theiroriginal upright position; whereas, with my invention, a wide latitudeis possible in giving different inclinations to these upper and lowerbearings, thus effecting an improved stability in the action of the baragainst the rail as well as increased strength and better design.

Figure 6 shows an upper concave bearing C, similar to that in Fig. 5,except that it has a smaller radius and extends outwardly over the barto form a rail with a very wide head. This afiords an unusually widebearing area for the bar, its inner portion being carried down aroundthe curve to 15. This same curvature is continued to form the face ofthe rail web. This extremely wide upper bearing area for the bar,together with its contact with the rail feet at D, provides a wellstabilized condition in the clamping action of the bar against the rail,and furnishes a very favorable design for insulated railjoints, in whichthe bearings at the top and at the bottom of the bar are of about thesame area.

Figure 7 shows a rail with the concave face C resolved into an irregularsurface having elliptic or parabolic curvature, the lower portion ofwhich oins in forming the side of the rail web at 16. The action of thisdesign as the bar is pulled inwardly and upwardly by the bolts, is toproduce a pinching Zone or area of increasing pressure as this irregularsurface approaches its point of greatest curvature adjacent to theposition of a horizontal plane. The result is, that a close tit andextra tightness is maintained at C. It will be noted that the undercorner of the rail head is cut back slightly at 17, thus throwing theoutermost portion of the bearing face C considerably inside of avertical plane at the outermost portion of the rail head. The outer edgeof this bearing, intersected by plane vo, could be set inwardly stillfurther by giving a greater slant to the side face of the rail head, andby using a larger radius for the under corner of the rail head as shownin Fig. 3, without departing from the spirit of my invention, which is:to locate the outer edge of the concave under bearing face C within theouter half of the under surface of the rail head. In the preferableforms, however, this outer edge is closely adjacent to a vertical planeat the outermost portion of the rail head.

In Figure 7, a novel method is shown for increasing the steepness orangle of inclination of the bearing D on top of the rail foot. Also, insome of the other forms of my invention, particularly when the concaveunder surface of the rail head is uniformly and steeply inclineddownwardly and inwardly from the under corner of the rail head, thisspecial means comprising a novel bearing of the bar against the railfoot, may be used to hold the bar in its upright position, similar tothe action mentioned in connection with Figs. 2 and 5. This novelfoot-bearing feature is not essential to this invention; but may be usedto advantage in combination with the concave under bearing face Cdescribed herein, some of the most practicable designs being thusattained. On the other hand, the concave bearing face C as described andclaimed in this application for patent, is not essential to theaforesaid novel footbearing; and therefore, I make this footbearingfeature the subject matter for a separate application for Patent No.450.112, May 6, 1930, which is related and supplementary to thisapplication.

In Figure 8, the outer portion of concave face C approaches a horizontaltangent simi lar to that shown in Fig. 7. In this Fig. 8, however, theconcave face C is set in under the rail head more than in Fig. 7, inorder to resist the tendency of the head of the bar to slip upwardly andaround its upper bearing and away from the head of the rail under theclamping action of the bolts. By using a large radius for the undercorner of the rail head, the outer edge of the concave bearing face C,intersected by plane o e, is set back slightly from a vertical plane atthe outermost portion of the rail head, but not as far as in Figs. 3 and7. In all of these three figures, this outer edge of the concave underbearing face C, indicated by line oo, lies much nearer to the outermostportion of the rail head than to the innermost face of the rail web. InFigs. 1 and 2, line v-e is very closely adjacent to the vertical sideface of the rail head. The lower bearing of the bar at D engages onlythe outer portion of the rail foot, in order to assist in stabilizingthe position of the bar against the rail.

In the various forms which I have used to illustrate the action and theadvantages of my invention, it will be noted that the concave form ofthe bearing face under the outer corner of the rail head is the vitalpart of this upper bearing of the bar against the rail. This concaveface acts as the holding or pinching element in controlling the movementof the upper portion of the bar as it is forced inwardly and upwardly bythe pull of the bolts. It is the width and the inclination of this outerconcave bearing face that gives to the clamping action of the head ofthe bar the required amount of yielding flexibility, the latter alsobeing regulated by the distance that the bearing of the head of the baris carried down around this curved face toward the inner portion of theconcave under surface of the rail head. Another advantage of thisconcave under surface is, that it the rail head. In the former art, theangle of inclination of the upper and-the lower flat bearing faces forthe bar have been made substantially equivalent, in order toholdthesplice bars in their original upright position;

of its head lying nearer to a vertical plane at the outermost portion ofits head than to a vertical plane at the innermost face portion of itsweb, a concave surface adjoining and extending inwardly from saidcorner, and a splice bar contacting with said surface and with the railfoot outside of a vertical plane at the outer edge of said uppercontact.

2. A railway rail having a portion of its head forming an under cornerlying adjacent to a vertical plane at the outermost portion of its head,a concave face adjoining and extending inwardly from said corner, and asplice bar contacting with said concave face and with the rail footoutside of said vertical plane.

3. A railway rail having the outer edge of a concave face under its headlying nearer to a vertical plane at the outermost portion of the railhead than to a vertical plane atthe innermost face portion of the railweb, a splice bar contacting with said concave face and with the railfoot outside of said outer verticalv plane, and bolts clamping the barto the rail.

4. A railway rail having a concave face forming that portion of theunder surface of its head which is nearer to a vertical plane at theouter edge of the rail head than to a vertical plane at the innermostface portion of the rail web, a splice bar contacting under the railhead with said concave face and on top of the rail foot at a greaterdistance from the rail web than said upper contact.

5. A railway rail having a concave face under its head and lyingadjacent to the side face of its head, the lower portion of said sideface lying nearer to a vertical plane at the outer edge of the rail headthan to a vertical plane at the innermost face portion of the rail web,and a splice bar contacting with said concave face and with the railfoot outside of said outer vertical plane.

6. A railway rail having a curved surface extending continuously fromits upright web to an under corner of its head, said corner being nearerto a vertical plane at the outer edge of the rail head than to avertical plane at the innermost face portion of the rail web, and asplice bar contacting with an outer portion of said curved surface andwith the IOU- rail foot at a greater distance from the rail web thansaid upper curved contact.

7. A railway rail having a curved surface extending inwardly from apoint adjacent to a vertical plane at the outer edge of the rail head tocomprise the greater portion of the under surface of one side of therail head, and a splice bar contacting with an outer portion of saidcurved surface and with the rail foot at a greater distance from therail web than said upper contact.

8. A railway rail having a concave face under its head, a splice barhaving a curved bearing engagement with a portion of said face which isnearer to a vertical plane at the outer edge of the rail head than to avertical plane at the innermost face portion of the rail web, said barcontacting with the rail foot at a greater distance from the rail webthan said upper curved bearing, and bolts clamping the bar to the rail.

9. A railway rail having a concave face under its head, and a splice barhaving a curved bearing engaging a portion of said face adjacent to avertical plane at the outer edge of the rail head, said bar contactingwith the rail foot at a greater distance out wardly than said curvedupper bearing.

10. A railway rail having an under corner of its head lying nearer to avertical plane at the outermost portion of its head than to a verticalplane at the innermost face portion of its web, a concave surfaceadjoining and extending inwardly from said corner, and a splice barcontacting with said concave surface and having a head underlying saidcorner.

11. A railway rail having an under corner of its head lying nearer to avertical plane at the outer edge of its head than to a vertical plane atthe innermost face portion of its web, a concave surface adjoining andextending inwardly from said corner, and a splice bar having an upperbearing against said surface and a lower bearing against the rail foot,said lower bearing extending outwardly a greater distance than saidupper hearing.

12. A railway rail having a portion of its head forming an under corneradjacent to a vertical plane at the outermost edge of its head, aconcave surface extending inwardly from said corner, and a splice barcontacting with a portion of said surface and with the rail foot, saidfoot contact extending outwardly a greater distance than said headcontact.

13. A railway rail having a portion of its head forming an under cornerlying nearer to a vertical plane at the outer edge of its head than to avertical plane at the innermost face portion of its web, a concavesurface adjoining and extending inwardly from said corner, and a splicebar contacting with a portion of said surface and having a headunderlying said corner. 7

14. A railway rail having the outer edge of a concave face under itshead lying nearer to a vertical plane at the outermost portion of itshead than to a vertical plane at the innermost face portion of the railweb, and a splice bar contacting wit-h a portion of said concave faceand having a head extfe'nding outwardly to the outer edge of said ace.

15. A railway rail having a concave face under its head and extendingoutwardly to a point adjacent to a vertical plane at the outermostportion of its head, and a splice bar contacting with said concave faceand having a head projecting outwardly beyond the rail head.

16. A railway rail having a concave face under its head, said face lyingnearer to a vertical plane at the side of the head than to a verticalplane at the innermost face portion of the rail web. a splice barcontacting with said concave face and having a head projecting outwardlybeyond the rail head, and bolts clamping the bar to the rail.

17. A railway rail having a concave face under its head, said face lyingadjacent to a vertical plane at the side of the rail head. and a splicebar contacting with a portion of said concave face and having a headintersected by said "ertical plane.

18. A railway rail having a concave surface extending continuously fromits upright web to an under corner of its head, said corner lyingadjacent to a vertical plane at the side of the rail head, and a splicebar contacting with a portion of said concave. surface and having a headprojecting outwardly beyond the full width of said surface.

19. A railway rail having a concave surface extending inwardly from apoint adjacent to a vertical plane at the side of the rail head, and asplice bar contacting with the outer edge of said surface.

In testimony whereof, I have signed at Flushing, in the city' of NewYork and the State of New York, this 16th day of April,

SAMUEL G. THOMSON.

